2-day, hands-on workshop to explore best practices in supervising farm employees in Millbrook, NY

March 5 - Adding Poultry to Your Small Farm - Jason Detzel, CCE Ulster Co. and Ashley Pierce, CCE CAAHP.  Jason and Ashley lead livestock and poultry educational programs in the Capital District and Hudson Valley regions of the state.  Poultry production is relatively low-investment with a quick turnaround time but farmers need specific skills to produce a product that is safe and profitable. This course will provide basic information to build a successful poultry enterprise.

Join experts from Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell University, and the University of Georgia for a day full of updates on best practices for muck onion production in New York. Researchers will share the results from trials studying herbicide efficacy, pink root management in transplanted onions, Stemphylium leaf blight fungicide programs, timing of copper applications for reducing bacterial bulb rots, adjuvant selection and use, and more! 

The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH) is pleased to provide an Agricultural Respirator Fit Testing Clinic for NYS DEC Region 3 which services the following counties: Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester. Clinic appointments will be held March 11 to 12, 2020 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County (CCEUC), 232 Plaza Road (Hannaford Plaza) in Kingston. 

Appointments are 1-hour long and are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis, only during the date range below. Groups of 8 workers can be seen at a time. Medical evaluations, fit tests, and trainings are available in both English and Spanish.

March 12 - Basics of Tree Fruit Production - Mike Basedow, CCE ENYCHP. Planting and managing apples, pears, and stone fruit is a rewarding hobby and business, but it's not as simple as planting and picking. There's a lot that goes into successful orcharding! Mike will provide some of the bare essentials to help you determine if growing tree fruit is right for you. 

Join us the morning of March 16 via webinar to review current best management practices for some of our most challenging insect, disease, and weed pests of New York stone fruit orchards.  Speakers include Dr. Art Agnello, Dr. Kerik Cox, and Dr. Lynn Sosnoskie.

*This event is postponed until further notice.*

Have farm employees that need recertification credits? At this meeting, we will cover the basics of integrated pest management, including how to monitor traps, evaluate insect thresholds, and use prediction models to better manage common orchard pests of Northern New York.   In the second portion of the meeting we will discuss as a group IPM tactics for managing apple scab, phytophthora root and crown rot, plum curculio, tarnished plant bug, and some common weeds in the orchard.  We will also review sprayer safety.  

We will be offering 2 DEC recertification credits in categories 1a, 10, and 22.  

This one-day educational program is co-sponsored by UConn Extension, USDA Risk Management Agency and the CT Agricultural Experiment Station.

Funding for this program is provided by a grant from UConn Extension and a cooperative effort of UConn Extension and the USDA Risk Management Agency.

Five pesticide recertification credits have been approved for this event for attendees from all New England States. 

The point of a pollinator habitat is to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects. 

We look at the insects we found in our plots and discuss whether they are 'good' or 'bad' and what benefits this may have for your environment.

Join us for a morning of hands-on pruning discussion and demonstration with Dr. Terence Robinson.  Terence will walk us through the key steps of pruning the tall spindle orchard, and will also review pruning techniques for other orchard systems commonly grown across the Champlain Valley.

March 19 - Food Safety for Small Farms - Elisabeth Hodgdon, CCE ENYCHP. Elisabeth is a regional vegetable specialist and farm food safety lead for the ENYCHP. She is actively involved in high tunnel research, invasive pest management, and pesticide and food safety education. In the final segment of our series, Elisabeth will guide the audience through a thoughtful approach to designing diversified farming systems with food safety in mind.   

Join us via webinar to learn about bloom thinning with the pollen tube growth model.  We will hear from Dr. Greg Peck, Assistant Professor of Horticulture at Cornell University in Ithaca.  

**This event has been CANCELLED**

The Institute for Food Safety at Cornell University, the University of Vermont and CCE Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture are hosting a workshop on Cleaning, Sanitizing and Hygienic Design. 

This one-day workshop will include:

• A brief review of produce safety
• Presentations focused on cleaning, sanitizing and drying best practices
• An introduction to hygienic design principles
• Several hands on exercises to reinforce cleaning, sanitizing and hygienic design concepts

Daily, folks are being bombarded with news on the effects of COVID-19 in our industry.  On Thursday 4/23 at 7pm, Nicole Tommell, Farm Business Specialist CCE CNYDLFC, Myron Thurston CCE Madison Ag Economic Development & Marketing Specialist and Liz Higgins Ag Business Specialist, CCE Eastern NY Horticulture Team will give an update on the USDA COVID-19 relief package announced by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on 4/20. 

Got commercial vegetable questions? Get LIVE answers every Thursday night from 7:00-8:00pm! This event is hosted on Zoom or you can call in for farmer-driven production conversations, dynamic troubleshooting with CCE Specialists, and photo diagnostics of crop issues and pests. Learn how to identify the pests affecting your crops.

Weekly Berry Office Hours held on Thursdays at 12:30pm via Zoom or on your phone.  Format will be a short, in-depth presentation about a production issue and then Q&A.

Got commercial vegetable questions? Get LIVE answers every Thursday night from 7:00-8:00pm! This event is hosted on Zoom or you can call in for farmer-driven production conversations, dynamic troubleshooting with CCE Specialists, and photo diagnostics of crop issues and pests. Learn how to identify the pests affecting your crops.

CFAP, authorized in the CARES Act will provide $16 billion in direct support to agricultural producers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Direct support for farmers and ranchers available via CFAP will include direct support based on actual losses for agricultural producers where prices and market supply chains have been impacted and will assist producers with additional adjustment and marketing costs resulting from lost demand and short-term oversupply for the 2020 marketing year caused by COVID-19. For example if you had to dispose of produce because you lost sales, you may be eligible for a payment.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions on public meetings, a series of three, short, weekly Zoom Webinar on-line thinning meetings will be held instead.

The format is designed to be brief and focused, with an opportunity for grower interaction with the presenters.

The three-meeting format will be repeated separately for the Capital District and the Champlain Valley.

You will be able to submit questions during the meeting. If you'd prefer to submit your question(s) prior, email to Dan Donahue djd13@cornell.edu.

There is no cost to attend, but pre-registration is required. Pre-registration is simple, just your name, business name, and email address, and can be done up to a few moments before the Zoom webinar.